German dating app Ohlalaraised $1.7 million in seed funding and announced its move into the US by launching in New York City. Investors include Max Finger, Ben Kubota, and Markus Ertler. Ohlala connects people for paid dates. Men that use the app can enter in information about the date they’re looking for, time, and price range. Women on the app can browse these date requests and decide to initiate a conversation with the man. No user details are shared until she has decided to go on a date, in order to preserve security and privacy.

Hobnob, a start-up reimagining the traditional invite model by offering beautifully designed, text-based event invites in under 60-seconds, announced a seed financing round of $2.25 million today. The Seed Investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Aspect Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Greycroft, who are attracted to Hobnob’s design, efficiency, and signature ‘app-less’ approach that allows users to interact with the service via text, mobile web, or the native app.

Fit Pay, Inc.closed $3.1 million in seed funding, led by Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), a supplier of mobile security products, software and solutions to banks, mobile network operators, and OEMs. Fit Pay has developed a payment enablement platform that allows wearable device manufacturers to seamlessly add contactless payment capabilities to their products.

WiSilica, a company that is creating smart environments, closed a $3.35 million Series A round, led by FirstFloor Capital, with Anchor Asia Management, Aurotek and several of the company's original angel investors also participating. The funding will enable WiSilica to support growing customer demand for its platform and support expansion across multiple applications and markets, including the smart home, lighting, energy management and across industries.

Vancouver-based Foodeeclosed $6 million Series A funding round, led by BDC Capital to fuel its ongoing expansion into US markets. Foodee is a food concierge service that delivers meals from local restaurants to company boardrooms. To date, Foodee has raised $10 million from Canadian and US investors including Yaletown Venture Partners, Voyager Capital, and Structure Capital.

Hortau, a provider of precision irrigation management systems and services since 2002, secured $10 million in financing to fuel company growth and broaden its service offering to growers in North America. The investment is the third major round of financing in the past 20 months for Hortau, establishing itself as a proven leader in precision irrigation management for agriculture. The $10 million U.S. investment comes from a group that is led by Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners, LP (ACAP), and joined by BDC Capital, Inc., and repeat investors Avrio Ventures LP II and Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins.

Sonatype, a company that helps customers create automated, policy-driven software component security, completed a $30 million round, led by Goldman Sachs. The investment was a mix of debt and equity financing and was handled by Goldman’s Principal Strategic Investments Group, rather than Goldman’s venture capital arm, Sonatype CEO Wayne Jackson explained.

General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that makes early-stage and transformational investments, closed its eighth fund, raising a total of $845 million, it was announced in a blog post on Thursday. The funding will be split between General Catalyst Group VIII, L.P. and General Catalyst Group VIII Supplemental, L.P. The firm last raised a new fund back in 2013, with its $675 million Fund VII. With the money raised for Fund VIII, General Catalyst has now raised $3.75 billion in total capital.

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